John Ulzheimer, Credit Damage Measurement 866-985-8884

Are expert witnesses allowed to do national work, or can they only represent local clients? I’ve been asked that question too many times to count. I’ve even had some of my expert witness students (I teach a class about how to be an expert witness) ask if there is a way to buy local leads so that they only have to do work locally, meaning they don’t want to travel or deal with multiple time zones.

When it comes to expert witness work there are no geographic limitations. I’ll use my own experience as an example. 100+ cases and only two in Georgia where I work. My caseload is very heavy in Texas, Florida, the Northeast and California.

It’s actually very easy to control the costs of expert witnesses even if you have an out of state expert. For example, almost all of my depositions are done via video or teleconference. I did one on Skype last year. Point being, depositions don’t have to include travel costs. And since most of the cases in my industry, consumer credit, settle before trial there is rarely a need for airfare and hotel expenses.

If you flip the equation and ask yourself…would you take a client who may want you to fly from out of state for a deposition or trial? For me that’s a no-brainer, you have to go where the business is. And most of the lawyers who have hired me recognize that finding the right expert isn’t a matter of geography, it’s a matter of who is going to help their case the most.

Credit Expert, John Ulzheimer, is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a Contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. John has served as an expert in over 100 cases, serving Plaintiff’s and defendants.